


running if you call my name - part 96

by wouldratherbe



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Celebrities, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Social Media, twitter smau
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:22:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26189437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wouldratherbe/pseuds/wouldratherbe
Summary: Part 96 of the social media au, found on Twitter, created by @folklorefabray and @quintuplethreat.Summary:Going Nowhere, a band with rising starpower, is going on tour! The only issue: their guitarist and bassist hate each other after a stupid decision. Tensions threaten to tear the band apart every day, but they just have to get through the tour.
Relationships: Rachel Berry/Quinn Fabray, rachel berry & quinn fabray & finn hudson & sam evans
Comments: 13
Kudos: 92





	running if you call my name - part 96

**Author's Note:**

> if you’re from twitter: you are SO close. keep going!
> 
> if you’re from elsewhere: hi! this will probably make a lot more sense if you gonread the rest of the social media au, found @folklorefabray on twitter.

Why Finn and Sam needed to be there when Quinn came over, Rachel didn’t know. Maybe Quinn had asked them there. Maybe they just loved drama. But Rachel didn’t think either of those were the case. They both just loved their fellow band members.

Although Finn did love drama, a little bit.

It was good, though, because Quinn was knocking on the door, and Rachel’s legs weren’t working.

“Rachel?” Finn murmured, hands holding a bowl that was no doubt filled with her Fruity Pebbles.

She looked up at him, hand dropping from under her chin, and shook her head. There was no way she was getting the door. Because, yes, Quinn might have been there for her, but seeing her before she needed to would result in, rather unnecessary, panicking.

While Rachel and Finn were silently mulling over what to do, Sam made himself useful, and opened the door.

“Is she not here? Jesus, Rachel.”

“She’s right here,” Sam shushed, and Rachel turned around, staring at Quinn’s shoes.

Quinn stuck her arm out, holding a tote filled with Rachel’s various belongings. Stuff that Rachel didn’t even know Quinn _had._ She saw her old dance studio hoodie peeking out, and finally glanced up at Quinn, a single eyebrow raised.

God.

Quinn looked like shit.

Now, okay, that was harsh. 

Quinn just… had obviously not brushed her hair in a day or two, if her excessively messy bun was anything to go by. Her clothes were wrinkled, and she didn’t even have mascara or eyeliner on. Not that she needed it. Quinn was beautiful no matter what. And that wasn’t coming from a lover, it was coming from someone with eyes.

Quinn was beautiful. That was a fact.

She was even more beautiful when she wasn’t obviously destroyed.

Rachel hoped, for a second, that no one had recognized her, before wondering if she was acting as a person who cared for Quinn, or a person who wanted to protect the band’s reputation. Both, maybe.

God, she looked as bad as she did after Abbie. The _first_ time.

Finn looked between the three other people in the room, concern clearly etched on his face. “Quinn, are you-“

“I just came to drop off her stuff. Sam, I’ll have to arrange a time to give you your guitar back, yeah?”

“No, Quinn, you can keep-“

The shorter blonde shook her head, alarmingly passive. “No, I can’t. And I don’t need to. I just bought a new acoustic anyway, so I don’t need yours. Either way, I don’t want you getting the wrong idea.”

It was silent, and Rachel realized that they were both still holding onto the tote. She tugged on it, and Quinn let go, staring at the wall behind her.

“I’m not coming back. I can’t. I love you guys, but… I think we could all use a break, and mine just happens to have no end date in sight.” The air in the room shifted, and Quinn smiled slightly, suddenly excited about something. Or as excited as Quinn could get. “I’m being considered for a movie, right now. Or, well, it’d end up being four movies-”

“No, I saw,” Rachel spoke up, wanting Quinn to look her in the eye. Just _once,_ just look at her _once._ Quinn turned away from Rachel.

The dread settled upon them, and Rachel had the distinct feeling that this was the last time the four of them would all be alone together in one room. She knew they all felt the same way.

Quinn was the first to break the silence, with a promise to make plans with Sam, and a sweet goodbye to Finn. She didn’t even glance at Rachel as she shut the door behind her, leaving them in the echo of a soft click and the fading sound of footsteps.

They all stood there in silence, Rachel staring at the bag in her hands, and she thought they would all want to feel that pain for a little bit longer. She, of course, thought wrong.

It had been about two seconds when Finn broke the silence, hitting Rachel on the head with his spoon. “Dude.”

Rachel scowled at him, tossing the bag on her couch and moving to her kitchen. “What?”

“Go after her,” Finn groaned, rolling his eyes.

_“What?”_

Sam spun her around, hands clasped firmly on her shoulders as he stared her down. “Rachel. Rachel Berry. Tell me you aren’t just going to let her walk out that door forever.”

“I’m sorry, did we not all just hear Quinn? It’s over. She’s not coming back to the band.”

Finn set the bowl down on her dining room table, voice growing louder and more agitated as he went on. It oddly reminded Rachel of her father. “Fuck the _fucking_ band, Rachel. I couldn’t give less of a shit about the band right now! This is about Quinn Fabray. You can’t lose her. I know it, Sam knows it, and you know it.”

“She doesn’t want me.”

Sam rolled his eyes, and Rachel winced as he pressed her further into the floor. “You don’t honestly believe that, do you? Quinn Fabray is head over heels in love with you. She always has been. And _you_ fell for her sophomore year of high school. We all know it. Stop acting like you didn’t.”

“Either way, Rachel, it doesn’t matter. Quinn Fabray just walked out that door. You can stand here and debate whether or not the love of your life loves you back when she _said_ she does, or you can go after her. But, Rachel, if you don’t go now, you’ll lose her forever.”

The choice was hers.

She looked between her two boys, before bolting out the front door.

The elevator was occupied by Quinn, of course, so Rachel took to the stairs, impressed at the way her legs didn’t buckle under her as she hopped down them. A month of barely exercising hadn’t destroyed her body as she’d feared.

By the time she reached the first floor from her loft on the fourth, the door was swinging shut, and she groaned, refusing to catch her breath as she ran through the lobby, barely glancing at her upset doorman. Where was she-

“Quinn!”

A figure froze at the end of the building, and Rachel ran to it, running in front of her to block her path.

The blonde furrowed her brow, her lips pursing in the way that meant she was definitely interested in hearing what Rachel had to say, but it probably wouldn’t change the outcome. But Rachel… Rachel was confident.

“Rachel-”

“I love you.”

Quinn froze, before pocketing her phone, and crossing her arms. She looked indifferent, but her eyes said something else. “Rach-”

“I love you, I love you, I love you. I’ve always loved you, Quinn. And I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to tell you. I-I-I should’ve told you that night. I should’ve told you when I first met you.”

“That probably wouldn’t have gone over well,” Quinn cut in, the slightest hint of a smile on her face. It made Rachel want to cry, but she didn’t know why. The tears started to fall anyway.

“No, but I should’ve. I don’t… I don’t understand why I never did, because I just love you so much, and I don’t know-”

Quinn shushed her, her hands cupping her face and calloused thumbs wiping away tears. “Rachel-”

_“No_. Quinn, I don’t want you to leave! And I know you want to, and I know we’re basically making you, but we don’t want you to! We want you - _I want you to stay with me!_ This is where you belong-”

Quinn tugged her close, pressing a kiss against her temple, and Rachel held onto her, arms wrapped tightly around her waist. They stood there, letting the world pass them by, for one fleeting moment.

And then Quinn opened her mouth and spoke.

“Rachel, I can’t keep doing this.”

“What?” Rachel sniffled, pulling back to look Quinn in the eyes. “But-”

“I know. God, Rachel, I know. I’ve known for a long time.” They stared at each other for a long time, and all Rachel could think about was where the hell she went wrong. Quinn was thinking about something completely different.

The blonde’s fingers brushed the hair out of Rachel’s face, peering into her eyes, in search of something. She must’ve found it, because she just held the brunette close again. “I love you, you know that? And I know you love me. I swear I do. And I can’t tell you how hard it is for me to just walk away-”

“Then don’t.”

“I have to. I can’t sit in a room with all of you and act like none of this happened, as much as I may want to. I need space to breathe.”

“Then take a break. Don’t _leave.”_

“Who’s to say I’ll want to be in the band when I’m done with my break?”

It was harsh, but Rachel knew that it was true. Quinn was growing, and unfortunately, she was growing apart from the rest of them. “Because of me.”

“No! No, my beautiful girl. This isn’t… I’m not mad anymore. I promise. I thought I was, but when I saw you today… I’m not mad, not at you. And I’m not confused anymore. I know that you all were doing what you thought you needed to do to protect you.”

“We hurt you.”

“Yes.” Quinn smiled, and Rachel wondered if maybe she’d lost it. “But you also made me realize that I don’t want you guys to have to protect me. You have all been protecting me for so long… I don’t need it anymore. I meant what I said: I need to see if I can stand on my own. You are all still my family, but I need everyone to stop being my parents. I need my closest friends to stop managing me. I want you guys to be my family, not… the people I work with. So I have to leave. Do you get that?”

Rachel nodded, almost imperceptibly, although half of the stuff that Quinn said had gone over her head. She couldn’t stop staring at the tear stains on the girl’s shoulder.

“I love you, Rachel. More than you know. I want to be able to come home, and find you burning down our kitchen. I want to hear you singing in the shower. I want to kiss you every day, all day. That’s why I’m letting you go. I want to give us a chance. A _real_ chance. And I know that if I stay, it’s never going to happen.”

There was silence between them, as something that felt a lot like… not closure, but a new beginning, opened between them.

Quinn pressed a final kiss into her hair, before whispering, “Rachel, I know we could be a lot better than we’ve been.”

“I love you,” Rachel repeated, burying her face in Quinn’s shoulder once more.

“I love you, too. And I can’t wait to see you again,” the blonde murmured, the unspoken _no matter what_ hanging in the air between them.

Quinn pulled back first, wiping at her eyes and smiling at Rachel, who found it in herself to smile back. They didn’t say anything as the brunette stepped to the side, letting Quinn pass.

Rachel was glad she didn’t look back.

**Author's Note:**

> how are we feeling? good?
> 
> please leave kudos and comments if you enjoyed!! thanks for reading xx


End file.
